Articles: health.
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Diarrhoeal disease is a major cause of death in children in the developing world. In developing countries a quarter of infant and childhood mortality is related to diarrhoea. The World Health Organization started the Diarrhoeal Disease Control Programme (CDD) in 1980 with the objective to decrease diarrhoeal mortality and morbidity among young children in developing countries. ⋯ The message of ORS has penetrated into the general population well, but the practices of health professionals have not changed. To improve the situation further, training of health workers in correct case management is needed. Paediatric forms of symptomatic antidiarrhoeal drugs should also be withdrawn from the market.
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Pakistan, one of the most populous countries in the world, has an estimated perinatal mortality rate of 60 to 90 per thousand births, of which almost half are stillbirths. Although infant mortality rates have declined in recent years, nearly 60% of all deaths occur in the neonatal period and have shown comparatively little change over several decades. This is attributed mainly to inadequate attention to programs of maternal and newborn care. ⋯ The primary health care services network is also being revamped in an effort to improve timely recognition of high-risk pregnancies and to facilitate prompt referral. The importance of the newborn period is also being emphasized in pediatric undergraduate and postgraduate training programs, as well as through continuing medical education. However, the most important long-term solution would be improvement in the educational and social status of women, as well as a greater political support for diversion of limited resources to appropriate primary and secondary health care.
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Freedom and responsibility, how much of each and how they are balanced, have profound implications for our personal lives and for our work. The health of a population and its achievement in the workplace are enhanced when individuals have some freedom and some responsibility, but not too much of either, and when civil associations of individuals rather than individuals acting alone are the essential social units. ⋯ But social conformity should not prevent individuals from going their own way, and it should be possible to combine the luxury of individuality with an active life in civic affairs. Less than complete freedom may fall short of existential utopia, but it may be best for our health and wellbeing.